Random musings about London's history

Piccadilly Circus: Drowning in Scaffold

Going about my business this morning, I passed through Piccadilly Circus. I noticed that a building that just two weeks ago was shrouded in scaffolding, has been unveiled and looking great. It’s the one on the corner of Haymarket.

Free at last.

Unfortunately, as you can see, scaffold has subsequently gone up on the Lillywhites building next door. Several building on the north side of Regent Street are similarly hidden and a few other structures in the immediate area besides. In addition, the roads all around the circus are dug up all over the place (see Murphy hoardings in the above picture). In short, the whole of Piccadilly Circus is just a building site. This is a pity with the arrival of the tourist hoards around the corner. One hopes that all of this refurbishment is specifically for the 2012 Olympics and that by next summer Piccadilly Circus will be looking as good as it should.